Coming Home
by raydelmundo1
Summary: Anakin's thoughts as he casts off the Darkside and once again embraces the Light.


**Title: **Coming Home

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the characters in this story or the world in which they belong to that honor goes to Mr. George Lucas, also I do not own and did not write the lyrics used they as well as the song belong to Mr. Sean Diddy Combs.

**Summary: **Anakin's thoughts as he casts off the Darkside and once again embraces the Light.

**Note: **This little one-shot was inspired by some of the lyrics from P-Diddy's song Coming Home, I just felt that some of the words fit so well with what Darth Vader/ Anakin had gone through and what he must have ultimately been thinking as he embraced the Light Side and joined the force. So thus this little story was spawned. As always reviews, comments and/or critiques are always welcomed and make me smile! Of course a special thanks to those of you who have read, added or reviewed my past works you are all the best! And a special thanks to EinAffe who reviewed my last story and left such a lovely review it made my whole week! J Now on to the story, hope you all enjoy….

_I'm coming home_

_I'm coming home_

_Tell the World I'm coming home_

_Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday_

_I know my Kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes_

_I'm coming home, I'm coming home_

_Tell the World that I'm coming_

So close now, he is fighting me with anger, with rage with hatred… he will become a Sith just as I did my Master has seen it. My Master…I can feel his amusement, his eagerness as he watches me clash with my son. He thinks to train him and be rid of me, but together Luke and I will destroy him and we will rule as Father and Son as it should be…

_What if my son stares with a face like my own_

_And says he wants to be like me when he's grown _

_Another night the inevitable prolongs_

_Another day another Dawn_

_Just tell [them] I'll be fine in the morn'_

_Another lie I carry on_

_I need to get back to the place I belong_

The look he gives me as he hacks off my arm hurts me more than it should. There's surprise, shock and realization in his eyes as he throws away his lightsaber and faces my Master. He will not become a Sith like I thought, like my Master wanted, and I can't help but find myself relieved.

As the blue rays' spring from his fingers and encircle my son I can't help but think about what I've done. How every choice _I_ made led me to this point and only a moment ago I wanted the same for him. Is this the kind of life I would really wish for my son, no not wish but condemn him to, because this isn't living…what I've become isn't who I was or who I was supposed to be.

I've wandered so far off the path that I doubt I can ever find my way back to it, but this isn't about me anymore, not really…or at least that's what I try to tell myself to make all of this easier.

But it won't get easier will it, it never has. I've come to another cross-roads, I must make another choice…but I'm afraid to make it. It's so much easier to live in the dark, not having to face anything or anyone, with only your hate and your anger as company.

In the end it all comes down to fear…fear drove me to this point and it still drives me. But maybe…just maybe it's time I stop being afraid because after all what's there to be afraid of when you're the biggest monster you know.

Maybe now is the time to let go…of everything and for once do what I _know_ is right…

_Is a house really a home when your loved ones are gone_

_And people got the nerve to blame you for it_

_And you know you woulda took the bullet if you saw it_

_But you felt it and still feel it_

"_Father…" _that one simple pain-filled plea brings me back to the present. But it does more than that; it releases me…from everything the darkside has ever held over me. With that simple word the change in me that was slow at first is all of a sudden complete.

Such a simple word…with a lifetime of meaning, it brings back memories of a life before Vader of a person who I thought no longer existed. Someone who loved and was loved in return by people who meant the world to him.

A wife who's love never wavered even as I betrayed her with my anger and fear. A father who was willing to give everything for me despite the code he lived by and was rewarded by having to watch as I turned into something he was sworn to destroy. A mother whose sweetness and compassion fell on deaf ears as her son slaughtered countless of beings. Friends who gave me their trust and were paid back with a lightsaber to the back. A galaxy that called me a hero and watched as I enslaved them all.

At one time I would have claimed that what I did I did out of love. That I only did it for them, but not anymore.

I finally see the true damage I caused and I'm taking responsibility for it for the first time. Love didn't drive me to do what I did, my anger; my fear and my need for power did that…and look what it got me…

_It's what made me, saved me, drove me crazy_

_Drove me away then embraced me_

_Forgave me for all my shortcomings_

_Welcome to my homecoming_

But no more…it has no hold over me anymore. I've finally learned to do what Obi-Wan had tried to teach me my whole life…to let go. This I realize as I rush forward, is what the lightside of the force is…love in its most selfless and pure state. I could laugh but I want to cry more than anything as I realize that's it's taken me 40 years to learn this.

But now's not the time to think, it's time to act and that's what I do. The gasp of surprise that escapes the Emperor as I lift him away from my son is rewarding. He thought his hold over me was absolute and eternal, lucky for the galaxy he was wrong.

The pain that shoots through me is excruciating but I barely register it as I watch the last of the Sith fall down the shaft to his demise. With a small triumphant sob I sink to the floor.

It's over, I'm free…my destiny has been fulfilled and now I'm just so tired I want nothing more than to close my eyes and rest. But he won't let me. He insists on saving me even though I know he already has. So more for his sake then mine I let him half carry, half drag me to a ship.

But as much as I want this for him, for his piece-of-mind, something else has a claim on me and with each step its pull on me is getting stronger and stronger. By the time he sets me down in the ship my breaths have become numbered.

_Yeah it's been a long time coming _

_Lot of fights, lot of scars, lot of bottles_

_Lot of cars, lot of ups, lot of downs_

_Lost myself, made it back_

_And here I stand, a better man_

_Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord_

At first he protests, but understanding sets in as he finally gives in and removes the cumbersome mask. I've been hiding behind it for so long that I don't know what to expect when it comes off.

It's everything I ever expected and more, the breeze the smells the sights the sounds, they all come at me at once. But all of my attention is focused on the young man in front of me, _my son_. His eyes are sad as he looks down at me and insists that he is going to save me.

The smile that graces my face is genuine and loving, something that it hasn't been in a very long time.

"You already have Luke…you already have" I tell him proudly as my awareness begins to dim. "Tell your sister you were right about me…" I manage to whisper as my breaths come slower and slower.

My vision begins to blur and his face comes in and out of focus. For a moment a stab of fear courses through me. I know I'm dying but I don't know what to expect…

As reality begins to fade I begin to hear something, at first it sounds far off but as time passes it gets louder and louder and the jolt of apprehension I felt before is gone.

How can it not be when the voices of loved ones long gone are calling my name?

I can hear my mothers' soft voice, the pride evident in her tone. Next I hear Qui Gon's deep baritone, just as reassuring as it was when I was little. A number of voices are calling out to me now, but I'm still waiting for two in particular.

I hear her first; as much as I tried I could never forget it. It's as sweet and as lovely as I remember it, the warmth and love we shared is conveyed through her gentle tone as she calls out tenderly to me. If my heart were not on its last beats it would have sped up.

For a moment I just listen to her not really aware that the physical world is slowly dissolving around me. Her voice caresses me softly as I let my eyes drift close.

My time is up, I know it but I feel a sting of regret. I would have liked to hear him one last time before I'm gone…but maybe that's too much to ask for. After all I did to him I hardly deserve to hear him…even if they are figments of my dying mind.

As I slip further and further away the voices only get louder, which is strange. I'm about to die, if anything they should be fading.

Just as I find myself wondering over this phenomenon I hear it, I would recognize that cultured voice anywhere. It's him…he came and all I can do is smile. There are tears sliding down my face but I pay little notice, everything in the physical world has become removed…detached from me and…whatever state I'm in.

His voice is gentle yet commanding, it seems even in death he's a contradiction, but it's so him that I can't help but be reassured. At first I'm afraid to detect a note of censure or accusation in his voice, I'd deserve it after all.

I shouldn't have worried, his steady timbre is full of affection and dare I say it…forgiveness.

For the first time I really listen to what they are calling out to me, to what each person is saying and in that moment my heart fills with a warmth I have not felt in ages, even as it beats its last.

They've been calling to me for a long time but I had been deaf to them until now…they've been calling me home…

_I'm coming home_

_I'm coming home_

_Tell the World that I'm coming home_

_Let the rain wash away all the pain of yesterday_

_I know my Kingdom awaits and they've forgiven my mistakes_

_I'm coming home, I'm coming home_

_Tell the World that I'm coming…home._


End file.
